CubfaninCA

Hey. Hey. Nice AB for Burnitz. Was expecting a strike out.

Sure nice to see Patterson in cf. Would hate to have seen Macias or God forbid Burnitz make that play to end the top of the 6th.

Dempster could command $6-8 mil?? woah! Sign either Millwood or Weaver. Rotation ~ Z, Prior, Weaver or Millwood, Maddux and let Wood, Williams and Hill fight for the 5th spot. Although I prefer Wood traded.

I still have hope cause I don't see anyone running away w/ the wildcard. We could see 86-88 wins taking the wildcard. However, I"m not putting much faith in Prior. The hitting's going to have to pick it up and Maddux, Rusch and the pen need to be really solid.

Very bold.

Not me. But I wouldn't mind having Kevin Millwood. I'd take Millwood. He still has the ability to dominate on any given day. He will likely fly under the radar this offseason, then again....with nothing else available, he could get big money. Just looked up his numbers and didn't realize he has been so good this year. His lack of success in 03 and 04 may keep him from getting a big deal though. Not a bad option.

Who you want to replace him with for $1 million?? If Nomar stays healthy, Cedeno's not going to get many at-bats. Might as well let him see regular pitching in Iowa.

As long as he's with the Cubs next year, he's still a top 5 guy. Doubtful Williams, Hill or anyone other youngster passes him. However, I'd rather see Williams as the #5 starter, instead of Maddux. Use that money towards upgrading the offense or signing a #3 or #4 starter.

That's pretty illuminating stuff. Where did you get the list for everyone's OPS since April? That's definitely something I'd like to have access to. It's not for everyone, as I said above. I wish I had access to that too. I guess I could separate for the other 39 players, but I think the point gets across that without his monstrous April, Neifi is one of the worst SS in the game. Cmon April wasn't an irrelevant month. He helped win games in April. Can't just throw out Neifi's first 68 at bats. You may want to throw out Neifi's numbers in August too btw. .783 ops.

Question for the experts: How many days off does he need between 15-30 pitch outings??

Is this sarcasm? It seems many quality OBP guys are to be had for a decent salary, it's more a problem with a GM's and Manager's appraisal of these players. I think it's actually the high average/high power guys that (rightly or wrongly) will command more in the market. So . . . if it is sarcasm, then I agree :). What quality obp bench players were available in the offseason and could fit into the Cubs budget?? The Cubs allocated about $5-7 million for their bench hitters correct?? I like that Neifi's a solid defender. Can't just win games by drawing walks. You can't win games by stopping runs either. The Cubs could do much better than Perez's pathetic .287 OBP. As for Macias, I pointed out in another thread that only 3-4 non catchers have been worse offensively this year. Perez has an ops that's better than Jack Wilson, Adam Everett, and Cesar Izturis, and he's only a few points off from Reyes and Clayton. Heck the 4th best SS in the NL, Greene, is only 50 points better than Neifi. I don't understand why Neifi and Macias are everyone's favorite whipping boys. It's not like Neifi signed for $8 million dollars, and sat on the DL all year. He's a $1 million player who's a middle of the pack hitter for SS, and one of the better defensive SS's. As for Macias, he can play multiple positions and his obp's better than the great white hope, DuBois, who can't defend any position. Neifi is 12th of 14 NL SS in RC, and that includes his ridiculous April. His .611 OPS since April is 37th of 40 MLB SS(125 PA minimum), and his .267 OBP since April is 38th of 40. He's about as bad as it gets, unless you are Cristian Guzman or Wilson Valdez. Again, only 4 non catchers in the NL are worse offensively than Macias. I think that speaks for itself. Cmon you have to include April in the 40 SS analysis or do the numbers not backup the anti-Neifiers?? That's better number cooking than the Bush Administration. :)

Yup he was regressing, but when looking at what he has done overall, he's been decent for what he was paid. Yes, Dusty greatly overvalues him & should never bat him 1st or 2nd, but he's not a piece of garbage either.

Is this sarcasm? It seems many quality OBP guys are to be had for a decent salary, it's more a problem with a GM's and Manager's appraisal of these players. I think it's actually the high average/high power guys that (rightly or wrongly) will command more in the market. So . . . if it is sarcasm, then I agree :). What quality obp bench players were available in the offseason and could fit into the Cubs budget?? The Cubs allocated about $5-7 million for their bench hitters correct?? I like that Neifi's a solid defender. Can't just win games by drawing walks. You can't win games by stopping runs either. The Cubs could do much better than Perez's pathetic .287 OBP. As for Macias, I pointed out in another thread that only 3-4 non catchers have been worse offensively this year. Perez has an ops that's better than Jack Wilson, Adam Everett, and Cesar Izturis, and he's only a few points off from Reyes and Clayton. Heck the 4th best SS in the NL, Greene, is only 50 points better than Neifi. I don't understand why Neifi and Macias are everyone's favorite whipping boys. It's not like Neifi signed for $8 million dollars, and sat on the DL all year. He's a $1 million player who's a middle of the pack hitter for SS, and one of the better defensive SS's. As for Macias, he can play multiple positions and his obp's better than the great white hope, DuBois, who can't defend any position.

Is this sarcasm? It seems many quality OBP guys are to be had for a decent salary, it's more a problem with a GM's and Manager's appraisal of these players. I think it's actually the high average/high power guys that (rightly or wrongly) will command more in the market. So . . . if it is sarcasm, then I agree :). What quality obp bench players were available in the offseason and could fit into the Cubs budget?? The Cubs allocated about $5-7 million for their bench hitters correct?? I like that Neifi's a solid defender. Can't just win games by drawing walks.

Neifi and Macias are decent bench players. If the Cubs had the Yankees budget, perhaps they could have obp monsters on the bench.

Does today's offensive explosion give Dusty enough confidence to go w/ Macias and Neifi @ 1 and 2 the rest of the way?? Actually I wouldn't mind seeing Burnitz sit this entire series.

Watch them go on an 8 game skid now. K-Rod = Barrett

Since my "thinking" is a little against the grain, I like this move. I believe in trying to win every game. Now watch Rusch get shelled on Monday. :?

Keep in mind folks, Brad Penny signed a 3 year extension in mid-June. Thus, he is not a free agent until after the 2008 season, or maybe 2009 if his option is picked up. http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/8556254 :x Anyone want Matt Morris?? :o

Why? It's not like he's some bubble player who may or may not be able to make it as a starter. We know what Wood can do as a starter when healthy, let him have the surgery and start rehabbing as a starter so he can get back in the rotation ASAP next year. To showcase him for a trade. I don't want to allocate $12 million to a guy who's most likely on the DL by May of next year.

The Burnitz deal isn't looking too hot now. I'm not sure how much of a shot the Cubs had at Jeff Kent, since he's from LA and all, but he'd look pretty nice at 2b now.

Give him 3 innings on Saturday after Williams gets knoced out in the 4th.

For once, I'd like to see us go get a pitcher who has great stuff AND has actually put it together. It's that second part that's so difficult for the Cubs to understand. Z & Prior?? Last guy like that who I can remember being available in free agency is Bartolo Colon. Pedro Martinez in last year's free agent pile. Yup. Pedro got overpaid though. Agreed, but that wasn't part of the equation you stated :-P Seriously though, great pitching is so hard to come by that the really smart teams are the ones who do an excellent job of developing young pitchers and focus on that in their drafting and minor league systems. If a team can do that and then evaluate that talent really well, they can keep at least an above average staff of inexpensive starters, let them go via free agency when the time comes or trade them and "sell high" picking up the good position players they need to fill out the rest of their team. So what you're trying to say is that Oakland's great at evaluating talent. Agree 100%. :)

Have Kenny Rogers and Matt Morris been giving extensions?? Hopefully some teams go nuts over them and leave Penny and Weaver for the Cubs. :)

I doubt the Yankees are huge players, they don't have any money coming off the books do they? Bernie Williams and Flash Gordon correct???